In the early hours of January 20, Russia, among other weapons, attacked Ukraine with a Zircon anti-ship missile. It was launched from Crimea and flew toward Vinnytsia.
Ukrainian Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said in in interview with UNIAN that the missile is likely difficult to launch from surface carriers due to certain problems.
He noted that, in the view of some analysts, the missile is not new but still “raw,” and the Russians had already used it several times at the start of the full-scale invasion.
“Back then the Russian military already had problems retraining it from an anti-ship role to strike land targets. During flight, when it saw some structure, for example garages, it would turn and fly there. We had several such cases in Mykolaiv region in 2022,” Pletenchuk said, adding that similar incidents were recorded in Kherson region.
Specialists believe the Zircon, in a land-attack configuration, is not fully refined.
Pletenchuk stressed that the Oniks and Zircon are similar because both are anti-ship and supersonic. Moreover, neither was designed to hit land targets.
The fact that Russia is not launching Zircon from Black Sea platforms—despite having universal launchers on the relevant ships—may indicate problems with the missile.
“That means they have some difficulties using them. Theoretically, they could launch them from ships, but they don’t…,” he said.
Pletenchuk doubts anything will change soon in how this system is used, arguing that if it were possible, the enemy would already have shown results.
“Zircon is interesting for the Russians because it’s a supersonic missile. It’s harder to intercept than Kalibr, of course. It’s a more complex target,” he said.
Meanwhile, military expert Andriy Kramarov says Zircon is still in limited production and has not become a full-fledged weapon of Russia’s forces. Launches against Ukraine are effectively serving as combat trials - testing the missile’s accuracy and capabilities at long ranges that may reach 800–1,000 kilometers.
Kramarov adds that, unlike the Kinzhal, Russia does not have mass production of Zircon, which limits its systematic use.
